e: : ,:'. #tI ' """ "':'. :. 0 À >II '.' " - ' 00 _ /1'-- - n,. ,\ 'V L :..."" THE NEW YOR.KER. Mr. Sammet have been the exclusive groomer /han- dlers for the champion white standard poodles of Alekai Kennels, which was founded by Mrs. Henry J. Kaiser, the industrialist's wife. "Poodles have a lot of .A bad P.R.," Mr. Shepherd told us. "They're known as nervous, yippy dogs. The fact of the matter is they're the smartest dogs around. "- They're too smart to use for Seeing Eye dogs, because if you show a poodle a cor- ner with points A, B, and C and train him to fol- low the letters, he'll do it three times and then he'll realize that the shortest distance is from A to C. Which isn't great for the person at the end of the leash." Dee A. Shepherd grew up in Kansas City, Mis- souri. He had early plans to get into veterinary medi- cine, but the plans fell apart when he realized that he couldn't deal on a daily basis with matters of life and death. So he got Into grooming in- stead. That may have been because his mother was the proprietor of a beauty salon, or it may have been because he was just naturally talented with hair. "Grooming coated dogs is high- intensity work, because of the coats themselves and the value of the dogs," Mr. Shepherd said. "We have dogs that are worth twenty-five thousand dollars. And, let's face it, this is not a warehouse of boxes. It's live animals, and they bring with them responsibili- ties, and needs. If a Maltese gets stained or a poodle chews the hair off its ear, I'm the one an owner's going to blame." The grooming area of the Garden consists of five narrow aisles jammed with shipping crates, tables, tabourets, blow-dryers the size of Shop- Vacs, ex- tension cords, and towel racks-all bathed in a fog of Aqua Net and ciga- rette smoke. Dogs languish in crates or drape themselves on boxes or docilely await the groomers' ministrations on stands resembling hangmen's scaffolds, each dog secured by what appears to be a noose. There are a hundred poodles at the Garden this year, and many, . . .. . . "0 , De, ; . 4 , t! n - -[. rr- "'" I- e -ir/' ' - [ - - f) - , ' ;fT 'u-= ! U _ - V- J 7J 1/ If=:: j- / f-:: . . 0 ., 1) .. ". 0: 0\ o /1>, II ; 'f. < 1f I ;. q" '^ ^ "'" ,"'7:" .... - t. 0...:::.... . - ,,- "-. .,. ,- . 1./ v_ P7 = -? - ""'-l1lI . 35 - o . tJ. r . . 'J=t+ , R - ==- )/ - - .1 S;';; = .-I - ---.;;;-- --- o '., ......:::... - ". o ..-- """'" - < n ..c "",' I- f' 1iI - ""'::" ill! r /'1 " - - ":; , L - -::, "If the truth be told, I prefer Biedermeier" . many of them are here right now, in various stages of canine dishabille. Several have their topknots tightly rubber-banded. One has its ears mum- mified in electric-blue Vetrap. An- other lolls on its back with furry paws akimbo. Besides the hum the dry- ers make and the incessant chatter of scissors, there is another, more sinis- ter sound: a hornet buzz issuing from electric clippers. The three permissible clips for show poodles are the Continental, the En- glish Saddle, and the Puppy. The most popular is the Continental-the topi- ary cut that turned up so often in nineteen-fifties shower-curtain depic- tions of poodles. It calls for a mown swath that leaves the dog naked from the waist down, sculptured billows over the chest and shoulders, on the ankles, and at the hips; and a fat ball of fur at the tip of the tail. As hair- cuts go, the Continental may outdo even the outlandish efforts of Astor Place Hairstylists, but it nevertheless has a practical purpose. "These dogs are retrievers," Mr. Shepherd said. "They're supposed to swim, and the fur is left at the joints to keep them warm." He went on to say, "Poodles are all man-made. We start days in ad- . vance, and on show day we spend at least six hours per dog. Scissor work is the true test of a groomer. A lot of peo- ple are afraid to pick up the scissors- they're afraid of making that cut. What you're doing is creating a sil- houette. Is the dog too tall? You bring him lower to the ground with a fuller clip. Too long in the back? You extend the chest clip and shorten him up." Once the initial clipping is finished, Mr. Shepherd lets the dog shake out and then scissors the coat allover again. Only then does he begin to comb, powder, shape, and spray. "Americans are known throughout the world for fabulous grooming, presen- tation, and showmanship," Mr. Shep- herd says. "I've given clinics in En- gland and Japan and Chile. The officials here have tried to eliminate hair spray, but there's just no way that will ever happen. The rule books for- bid all foreign substances, but every- body uses them. Bleach, talcum, chalk, cornstarch-coat enhancers are the tricks of the trade. I'm a great believer in improving dogs through breeding, but when all is said and done you've got to realize that a dog show is a beau- ty contest. And Americans have beauty contests down."